I have a decision to make...

I'm about to buy my first bike and I've narrowed it down to 2 bikes (both Kawasaki Ninja 250s). I saw both of them this weekend and here are the details:

Colour	Black	Green
Year	2008	2009
Mileage	11,500KM	8,500KM
Price	$3,400	$3,200
Repairs Required	$0	~$300

Both bikes have been dropped but there's minimal damage on the edge of the black bike's handle bar whereas with the green bike there are scratch marks on the exhaust only, everything else is minimal. Overall the black bike looks like it's been maintained well and runs perfectly. The green bike has a rusty chain and the front tire may need to be replaced as the threading is worn down but it does look to be running in good order.

I guess I need some advice on how much replacing a chain and tire would cost. If it will total $300 all together in repairs like I assume it might be worth it to go with the green bike. If it's more than that, it may be better to go for the well maintained black bike for a few hundred more even though the mileage is higher.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

If you don't care about it being green or not, just buy the black. If you do care about the green then just get the green one if it's only the chain and tire you have to change. Maybe you can negotiate down to $3000 for the green as well.

Black.

I don't know how you wear out a FRONT tire and chain in 8k. The green bike owner has clearly not given a **** about proper maintenance.

$3400 for a good running Ninja 250 is a steal.

Yea the green bike owner didn't even really bother to give it a wash before I came to see it...it was pretty dirty. I'm pretty sure I can talk him to $3000 and then repair the bike. My concern is the bike functioning well throughout the season and then having a decent enough resale value for next season for when I upgrade.

I plan to put 8-10K KMs on the bike I purchase. Black is an easy sell but it will have 20K+ clicks on it by the time I'm done with it. The green will have under 20K clicks on it.

I think I would be able to sell them for $3000 by next season. Thoughts?

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Originally Posted by ridikulus

Yea the green bike owner didn't even really bother to give it a wash before I came to see it...it was pretty dirty. I'm pretty sure I can talk him to $3000 and then repair the bike. My concern is the bike functioning well throughout the season and then having a decent enough resale value for next season for when I upgrade.

I plan to put 8-10K KMs on the bike I purchase. Black is an easy sell but it will have 20K+ clicks on it by the time I'm done with it. The green will have under 20K clicks on it.

I think I would be able to sell them for $3000 by next season. Thoughts?

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I put 20k on my 250 in one season and still sold it for $4100. Go black and don't look back.

black...
green : rusty chain = havent been lubing and cleaning the chain, probably neglecting the basic bike maintence too if he cant do something simple which takes 5 mins or less to do, every 500km
espeically cuz he didnt even bother to wash it for people to come have a look, and weather is not an excuse, its been beautiful out

sold my brand new 250, 2010 this year which was purchased last year....both front and rear tires still have at least 10,000km worth of tread left on it. (i put 8.2k km on it)

and the rear should wear out faster than the front too so iunno what he was doing, unless he's already replaced the rear. unless he took it to the track, it doesnt really make sense lol

go black

I cannot beleive that a dropped Ninja 250 is selling for 3k + ...these machines seem to hold up their resale value...

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Originally Posted by sid_for_speed

I cannot beleive that a dropped Ninja 250 is selling for 3k + ...these machines seem to hold up their resale value...

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They are in demand for new riders. It's hard to find good ones that havent been dropped.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sid_for_speed

I cannot beleive that a dropped Ninja 250 is selling for 3k + ...these machines seem to hold up their resale value...

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new riders also get dirt cheap insurance on them. i was quoted $50 a month full coverage on it when the new body ninja 250s came out a few years ago.
i should have got one so i would have more experience on the road, but i didnt.

now being over 25 i got a harley for a first bike... and its only $500/year.

I wouldn't even consider the green bike. Just go with the black one, and don't worry too much about mileage. For a bike that's still pretty low, and when you're selling it to another newb next season you'll still get good resale value. Don't give yourself more work, and who knows what $$ you'd have to drop into that green one. Taking care of a chain is pretty basic stuff.

ninja 250s have tiny jets in the carburetors. If the green one wasn't maintained, then I doubt it was stored properly, and thus the jets could be getting gunked up as we speak.

Go black! Especially for a newer rider

Thanks for all your advice guys.

I've decided to go with the black one. Partly because of the advice here and partly because I looked into the UVIP and found that the registrant of the green bike is currently State Farm Insurance haha....I don't even know how that's possible! Does State Farm even finance bikes? Makes no sense to me but it all smelled way too fishy and way too much work involved for some lower mileage.

Now there's one thing I didn't mention about the black bike...there's a lien on it. It's not a big deal though because the lien is under the seller's father and they both agreed to go with me to the bank to pay off the lien before we finalize the transaction. Although I have a decent banking/finance background, when it comes to buying used vehicles and liens I'm still very new so I could use some guidance. Once I pay off the lien at the bank, I was told by a banking rep over the phone that I will receive a receipt and it will take a few business days before a lien discharge letter is received (that is received by the original owner, which is the seller), thereby making it official that the vehicle is lien-free. The problem is I plan to pay off the lien, pay the seller the remaining balance owed, transfer ownership, and take the bike the same day.

Can I assume that the lien discharge letter is only a formality and since I paid for it at the bank and have the receipt to prove it that the lien will be cleared for sure? What could possibly go wrong here? I suppose if I'm already at the bank and prepared to pay off the lien, I could first transfer ownership of the vehicle so it's under my name, pay off the lien and the seller and that way I would receive the lien discharge letter as the new owner right?

Make sure the title has no lein on it before you pay $.If you buy the bike and transfer it and for some reasopn the leain isn't taken off the title you are liable for it, and the bike can be repoed from you.I saw 1 bike that I wanted and the plates expired in 2009 when a lein was issued for it , bike has been hidden from repo since then. Whoever buys it will have it taken from them.